Emirates SkyCargo, Japan Airlines and Southwest Airlines won the Diamond Awards at Air Cargo World’s Air Cargo Excellence (ACE) Awards ceremony held on March 10 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles during the International Air Transport Association’s World Cargo Symposium.
Airports were awarded geographically. North American airports receiving the Diamond Awards were Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and Minneapolis-St. Paul International. Winning European airports were Amsterdam Schiphol, Cologne/Bonn and Zurich. Santiago took the Diamond Award in Latin America. Winning Asia airports were Incheon, Osaka-Kansai and Sydney. Doha took the Diamond honors for the Middle East/India/Africa region.
Winners in each category received the Diamond Award, followed by Platinum Awards to the runners up and Gold Awards to third place.
Emirates Sky Cargo, a regular ACE winner, took the Diamond award for air carriers carrying more than 800,000 tonnes.
“We’re proud to win this prestigious award,” says Nabil Sultan, divisional senior vice president, cargo at Emirates. “We want to thank all the freight forwarders who voted for us. Most importantly, I thank all of our staff who have done an excellent job.”
Sultan also credits the Dubai airport as being an integral part of Emirates success, as well as the airlines’ effort to expand its infrastructure.
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol took the Diamond Award for airports in Europe handling more than 1,000,000 tonnes.
“We are delighted to have moved into top position this year, and to have shown a marked improvement in all categories,” says Schiphol cargo senior vice president Enno Osinga. “Once again, we thank all those who have ranked Schiphol so highly. Our continuing work to drive streamlining of processes at Schiphol, in conjunction with our community and our authorities, has clearly played a part in these results, as it has in the steady growth of traffic through our airport. We hope that our many initiatives, and the dividends they achieve, will be studied and adopted around the world. Airfreight is only as strong as its weakest link, so we all need to work together and raise standards across the industry.”
Southwest Airlines is another perennial winner, taking the Diamond Award in the up to 299,999 tonnes category.
“We’re thrilled,” says Wally Devereaux, senior director, cargo and charters, at Southwest. “It’s an honor to be recognized by our customers, the freight forwarders. It’s an important award for us.”
Swiss WorldCargo won the Platinum Award for air carriers that move up to 299,999 tonnes of cargo.
“I hope that it’s still to the high-standing quality we do for the customers,” says Urs Stulz, Swiss WorldCargo vice president for central services.
In the future, the carrier is focusing on its e-business, such as E-freight and the e-air waybill, Stulz says.
For a second year in a row, Santiago Airport won the Diamond Award for airports in Latin America. Mario Maechtig D. credits Santiago Airport’s cargo operators and warehouses for receiving the award.
“Ninety-nine percent of the win is for them,” he says.
Maechtig says the airport plans to have a new 5,000-square-meter (53,819-square-foot) terminal for couriers in 2015.
Lufthansa Cargo received the Platinum Award for carriers that move 800,000 or more tonnes.
“It’s a great recognition of what we are doing in the progress and services,” says Achim Martinka, vice president Americas, at Lufthansa Cargo. “At the same time, it’s a motivation to keep working.”
The airline also has plans in the works, including taking delivery of two more 777s, investing US$1 million in its information technology infrastructure and building the Lufthansa Cargo Center in Frankfurt.
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport (CVG) was among North America Airports receiving a certificate in the 400,000 – 999,999 tonne category.
“This is a great honor for CVG,” says Candace McGraw, CVG, CEO. “We are pleased to receive this recognition and are grateful to host a DHL super hub at CVG.”
CVG maintains four runways and 7,500 acres of property. On average, DHL flies 35-40 flights a night. In 2013, Southern Air Cargo moved their headquarters to CVG. Also in 2013, DHL completed a US$105 million (7.5 million euro) expansion, which lead to an expanded workforce of 2,300 employees.
“Without our partnerships with DHL and with FedEx, this award would not be possible,” adds Wm. T. (Bill) Robinson III, incoming chairman of the Kenton County Airport Board.